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Archaeologists Reveal Bodies Buried Beneath Easter Island Stone Heads

Easter Island, often called one of the most remote places on the planet, is peppered with the heads of more than 800 stone figures. Now archaeologists have discovered that beneath those mysterious heads are carved bodies, entombed in the earth below.

Easter Island, or Rapa Nui, is a 63-square-mile island in the South Pacific Ocean, far from the coast of its closest neighbor, Chile.

Archaeologists believe the statues were carved between A.D. 1100 and the 1800s, when Westerners found the island and its isolated culture.

For years, visitors have photographed and established theories about the stone sentinels dotting the island. But only recently did researchers begin unearthing the stone bodies, previously unknown until the Easter Island Statue Project, lead by director Jo Anne Van Tilburg, began excavating the large statues.

Early evidence suggests that some statues are more than 30 feet in height, and weigh more than 80 tons.